Nadal has done an excellent job since his return. For someone to be out that long and come back and make finals and win tournaments - IN THE MEN'S GAME!!!! -- he must be doing something right.

I noticed a pattern with a lot of Nadal fans. Seems like his fans are harder on him that non-Nadal fans! Glad you all are not Federer fans!

But at any rate. Nadal is still playing pretty good tennis right now so I don't count him out in any tournament (unlike some of his fans)

Roger's is the 'question mark' to me. I know he normally takes a lot of time off during the year, but he's getting older, and it seems like he needs some time to 'get back in the swing of things'. With him being the defending champion here -- he's going to have to get back in the groove in a hurry! He hasn't won a title this year yet (that's another streak going as well)....so I hope he can start here but with almost 2 months off - I honestly don't know how Roger will play this week.

Federer had a period where he looked relatively poor a few years back, early exits, shanks all over the place on the BH and the forehand was unreliable.It got so bad that few ever thought he could be competitive for any decent length of time.

Fed showed that he had the will and desire of a champion to not only play good again but to rack up some masters, WTF, slam and a return to #1 while both Nadal and Djokovic were playing in their prime.

Nadal is at a serious crossroad, it's not the knees that will hold him back but his desire and will to win.

This tournament is for Nadal and Nole to fight over. But definitely some interesting matchups along the way. Looking forward to Fed vs. Nadal if that happens. Federer is definitely a question mark but if he's sharp, he's had success against Nadal here in Madrid and could potentially have a good match and some chances.

Other one is Wawrinka vs. Djokovic. As long as Wawrinka is not burnt out, he's shown he can play against Djokovic and he just won a title comfortably over Ferrer on clay. Ferrer doesn't seem to be on as high a roll as last year but he's still no slouch on clay and usually beats people like Wawrinka so looking forward to what Wawrinka can do. Same goes for Dimitrov against Djokovic.

Raonic should have his hands full with Davydenko but if he gets past I want to see him trash Verdasco on clay. Not sure if you remember but two three years ago when Raonic won back to back hard court matches against Verdasco, Fernando got a case of the sour grapes and called out Raonic saying Clay is the real surface and what Raonic plays on indoor hard courts isn't real tennis. I believe this might be their first clay matchup. Time to serve up some revenge.

Tsonga vs. Djokovic should be a rematch of their RG encounter from last year if that happens. Tsonga would have some help from the conditions but Djokovic is Djokovic. But it'll also be a measure of Tsonga's form and if he'll have any shot going into RG.

Berdych vs. Murray, should that happen will be a good test for both of them. Looking forward to that.

I like Gasquet and Cilic but Cilic is already out. We'll have to see if Gasquet can build upon the success he has had and lay some claim to being a legit top ten player and challenge the top frenchman (Tsonga). In that regard Gasquet vs. Federer would be a fun matchup.

Jerzy looked really good today. He still needs some work but he seems like he will be a very good player in not too long, maybe even top 10. He just has to keep his temper down a little and just keep up the practice.

Jerzy looked really good today. He still needs some work but he seems like he will be a very good player in not too long, maybe even top 10. He just has to keep his temper down a little and just keep up the practice.

At 6'8" he moves very well and can improve here too.

I can't stand him and Tomic. punks. hope he loses in the next round Alex, The Evil One

Awesome match for Tommy defeating Seppi 6-1 6-2.I was really worried about this match but Tommy was simply flawless and brutal, thought he would be wasted after winning Munich. Glad he proved me wrong and acquired this win pretty easily.